We always had a REAL cedar Christmas tree. Daddy would pick it out in the woods, cut it down, and bring it home while on a hunting trip. We put it in a gallon bucket of water before bracing it in the tree stand. It was my job to keep the water level filled throughout the holiday so the tree would be fresh for as long as possible and shed less needles. Cedar is prickly and made red rashes on our arms as we decorated. As I got older I also had the job of attaching the lights. The screw in lights were about 2 inches long and came in blue, green, red, and orange. They got extremely hot in a short time and were said to be the cause of many fires around the country. After carefully clipping each light to a branch, I stood back and exchanged any bulb colors that bunched up in one area. We added a few star shaped aluminum reflectors that fit under the bulbs. Mother helped with ornaments as most were cherished hand crafted glass, many made in Germany. Shapes were round or oval, and there were some figurines all painted to perfection. A few designs were recessed rather than completely round. We had little glass pinecones and twisted aluminum icicles. For several years we added angel hair (white fiberglass wisps) or powdery asbestos snow but later on we used LEAD foil silver tinsel. My grandfather threw it on in clumps, but I preferred to add one or two pieces at a time in an even distribution. I don't know which carcinogen was worse, the flammable cutting fiberglass, asbestos, or lead - none of these are used anymore, thank goodness.

The aged Christmas picture (above) is from when I was six and got my first (and only) bike, Bluebonnet, from Santa. I didn't know how to ride and my grandfather took me out Christmas day to learn. He patiently held on to me and ran along side over and over as I attempted to pedal down the asphalt road in front of our house. It wore him out, but he never gave up and soon I was off solo.

Over the years we added homemade ornaments, some from school projects and others from ideas out of Family Circle, Woman's Day, or Southern Living magazines. One year we cut two small squares of cardboard from cereal boxes, placed them together so there were eight points, and wrapped them with yarn or braid. We glued pictures from the magazines and I chose a particularly 'ugly' angel and we laughed and laughed. I still have that ornament and hang it every year on our tree. Mother was thrilled when plastics were made into everything, including ornaments. Her favorites were red, blue, or green stars. They came flat in a box and then you interlocked them and they became dimensional. Red and white pipe cleaners made cute candy canes. With lots of Florida pine trees in the yard we had a constant supply of pine cones that could be decorated with glued on glitter. Crocheted doily shapes were folded to make butterflies. We tried making stars using colored plastic beads but found it to be tedious. Using the metal ends of frozen orange juice cans, we hammered a nail through to make various designs like a wreath, a star, a bell, etc and then added touches of color with paint. Red and green paper chains were added and once or twice we made popcorn and cranberry chains. Felt was good for snowmen and gingerbread kids. It seems every year my mother and I would try out a new idea. The only problem was narrowing down the choice. It was a fun time to spend together, talking, laughing, drinking hot tea or chocolate, making a mess, and staying up late. ​

We leave the tree up at least one week after Christmas, sometimes another week after Epiphany or The Three Kings. It's an emotional time seeing all the ornaments from years past, bringing memories of our wide-eyed toddlers, other homes, and winter vacations. Our nostalgic tree is heart warming and better than any modern color coordinated display.

"But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart." Luke 2:19